


Your Sunlight

by ProPinkist



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Post 100+ Spoilers, Romance, the ending to chapter 104 is still the worst thing in the manga, they deserved nothing but happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:03:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6609994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProPinkist/pseuds/ProPinkist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaya doesn't know everything about Zeno, but she knows enough to wonder why, out of all the people in the world, someone as special as him picked her. She wishes she could give back even a fraction of what he's given her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> KaZe is one of those ships I don't really think about too often (although tbh, I don't think about any ships that often lol), but for some reason they snuck up on me and ow feels; they were really adorable together. ;w; I feel like Kaya would be more observant than the chapter makes her appear, and that she might figure some things out... We have no idea how much time they had together, but I like to think it was a good while. :(

Kaya had a feeling Zeno was different not long after she “met” him.

He stumbled into the vicinity of her house, injured and bloody and looking half dead (probably more than half), and some gut feeling told her _help this person, he is special and no one deserves to be helped more than him._

Despite his torn clothes and filth, she was surprised to find that he had far less wounds than the bloodstains suggested. Kaya would have pondered on how strange it was for longer, but she knew she could still do other things for him. On his person, she found an extremely beautiful and rather dated looking necklace with a medallion on it. Despite how old it had to have been, it had an almost ethereal shine to it, sparkling brightly and catching the light.

Kaya was only left more confused and somewhat concerned when, upon waking up, the boy asked for it immediately and snatched it from her hands, holding it to his chest with a panicked look in his eyes, as if it was the only thing grounding him to earth.

She didn’t know what to think.

When he refused to eat anything and said that he wished to die, Kaya worried even more, but she left him be. She didn’t know how she would handle him if he remained there and kept refusing to do anything, but all she knew was that she had to send him on his way as soon as possible...

…Before she had one of her fits.

The mysterious boy who had seemed so out of it before insisted on taking care of Kaya to thank her for helping him. Even as she tried to discourage him by warning him of her contagiousness, and even as she laughed at his adorable attempts to carry her, she felt like crying inside. She desperately wanted to insist he leave her alone for his own sake, but something stopped her from doing so. It was everything she had seen from him up till now, on top of her own selfish desire for company after being alone for so long

His name was Zeno, and when Kaya asked him for it, it took him a second to remember. It was just like her… except to a much worse degree, she had a feeling.

So Kaya decided to let him stay, as much as common sense told her not to. She would say his name to him for as long as was possible, so he wouldn’t have to call himself by it.

And together, they were happy.

Every day (well, almost every) was fun, and Kaya had had no idea how much she had truly missed having a friend around. Someone to talk to, someone to work with, someone to play with, someone to tell all her fears to… he was there for her to do all of that, and more. From when she had first moved away from her family for their sakes up until now, she had lived in solitude; the days when her strength suddenly left her and she fell to the ground, coughing and choking and gagging and feeling like she would never be able to catch her breath ( _it hurts, it hurts, I’m going to die, there’s so much blood_ ) were the most terrifying times, and they happened frequently enough. But being alone during them was what made it scariest, knowing that any one of these times could be her end, and every time she weakly cleaned up the blood and vomit stains afterward, wondering what the point was since fresh ones were just going to be made again sooner rather than later.

Now, however, whenever this happened, Zeno was there. He cradled her tight in his arms and rubbed her hair, trying to soothe her and supported her in the best position for her coughs; afterward, he would carry her to bed and tuck her in. His body was warm and soft, and Kaya was grateful, ever so grateful. She knew how much it scared Zeno to see her like this, but he still never abandoned her. He worked to support her and pay for her medicine that she had never been able to afford as often on her own, comforted her during her fits, and provided her with company.

Zeno put flowers in her hair, danced with her, and called her beautiful. Kaya had never thought she was beautiful, not with her sickness… but somehow, when Zeno said it, she felt like she had to believe it.

He gave her everything, and she knew she hadn’t given him anything in return. It was what plagued (ha) Kaya’s mind often, and the only thing dragging down her happiness during this time.

Zeno always acted happy, and for the most part, it seemed genuine. Sometimes, however, she could tell he was thinking about something else, and his eyes were a little bit dimmed on those days. It didn’t happen very often, but when it did, Kaya worried. Zeno refused to talk about his past, and she had stopped asking past the first few times once she realized this. …But that medallion, which he always wore inside his shirt, still nagged at the back of her mind. She didn’t know where he had gotten it, but he treated it with such loving care (sometimes she caught him pressing his lips to it) that she couldn’t believe it wasn’t a family heirloom. It was all very strange, and Kaya couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it was about Zeno that felt so off. She did not doubt he was special, though, and Kaya supposed it was wrong of her to want to know any more than that.

As soon as Zeno gave her another one of his bright smiles that was like the sun itself, she forgot all about the mystery surrounding him and continued on her way.

…But even disregarding that, there was the obvious issue. Kaya had long since given up worrying that Zeno would catch her illness (that too, was part of the mystery surrounding him), but the fact of the matter was that she knew she wasn’t going to live a normal lifespan. Zeno getting medicine for her on a regular basis had helped her make it this long, but it couldn’t last forever. There was still a slow but noticeable increase in the frequency and intenseness of her coughing fits, and Kaya knew he had to see this. From her perspective, she was selfishly glad to have him be a source of comfort for her, but the thought of leaving Zeno alone when he had already been by himself for what she suspected was a long time before made her cry. It wasn’t fair to him, and as Kaya halfheartedly kept telling him he was bound to get sick from her eventually, he continued to brush her aside and never once entertain the notion of leaving.

Zeno wasn’t stupid, Kaya knew. He most likely was trying to lie to himself. It made her wonder how many other people close to him he may have lost in the past.

Time passed. Her bad days had started to outweigh her good days. Even still, they spent her good days doing more mindless, fun activities, and Kaya couldn’t bring herself to ruin Zeno’s fun because she wanted to do what little she could anymore to make him happy (and she had fun too, of course). It was a miracle they still had things to talk about after all this time, but they somehow managed. Summer turned into fall, and the cold meant it wasn’t good for her to go outside anymore, so they played games they made up inside. Zeno still worked and fed her without fail, and Kaya didn’t miss his increasingly more relieved faces at seeing her every time he came home (except for the rare times when he came back to her curled up on the floor, to which she cursed. Usually if they happened, they started and ended while he was gone, and she could lie and tell him nothing had happened… even if he didn’t really believe her).

It was horribly untimely and inappropriate considering the situation, but Kaya eventually began to notice that her feelings toward Zeno had changed after being with him for so long. He made her smile, laugh, and was a constant bright spot in her otherwise lonely, cold, and painful life. In truth, it hadn’t been nearly as long as one would normally spend with someone before feeling this way… but Kaya couldn’t imagine her life without Zeno anymore. She had wept upon realizing this, because despite all her attempts to make him leave her and save his own feelings, she had failed. Even as friends, there was no happy ending for them, and Kaya knew it. Granted, she felt so blessed to have known him, and she felt at peace knowing she would die with him by her side… but she was dooming him to despair. And there was nothing she could do.

But then, Zeno defied all her preconceptions, shocking and aweing her at the same time, when he asked her to marry him. She cried even harder, and he had kissed her forehead happily, obviously perfectly content with his decision. It left Kaya utterly speechless, that someone could love someone like her as much as Zeno did.

They picked a day when it was clear she would be stable, and Kaya insisted on doing it outside despite the chill. They held their own little ceremony under a colorful fall tree, and Zeno put flowers in her hair, somehow still having some left over despite the fact that they all should have died by now. He pulled out his medallion from inside his shirt, and told Kaya that he had once been a priest, so he could do that part as well. Even as she giggled at his antics and the overall informality of the whole thing (not that she would have it any other way), she realized that this was the first time he had ever told her anything about himself from before she met him. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and she was glad for it. She could see Zeno being a good priest, Kaya thought to herself.

He then kissed her, and it was hardly a slow and gentle kiss, but rather one of a child. But it was still filled with love and some wonderfully sweet taste that was so _him_ , and her own lips were nothing but cold and blood-encrusted, but she returned it. Afterward, they returned to the house and cuddled with each other, which in truth was nothing different than what they’d done before. But it was enough, because Kaya loved Zeno.

Just for today, everything was all right. She wished this day could be frozen in time, forever.

 

* * *

 

 

But then it happened.

One day, Zeno didn’t come home. He had left for work like he always did, even though Kaya had a feeling that any day now he was going to stop leaving and simply stay with her, from the constant worry lines on his face. It was dusk, and he should have returned a while ago. She knew that if she was going to look for Zeno, she had to go now before it got completely dark. Walking tired her out easily at this point, and she probably wouldn’t be able to go far enough to do any good anyway… but she had to. Zeno might have been hurt, because there was no other explanation as to why he wouldn’t return.

She couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to him _(_ although he _had_ survived his wretched state after their first meeting, hadn’t he?)

Kaya began to walk, her body protesting it all the while, but she ignored it. If she got too far with no sign of Zeno, she may not be able to get back to the house… but she wasn’t thinking that far ahead, because she didn’t want to think about not finding Zeno at all.

It was when she had walked for what felt like forever that she saw it.

It was Zeno. He was lying on the ground in a heap, clothes torn and blood spattered everywhere. Despite this, he seemed to have no open wounds… rather, it was something else about his body that drew Kaya’s attention.

The skin on his arms and one of his legs… wasn’t skin anymore. It looked like scales, if she had to name it. Silver scales.

“…Ka…ya?”

Zeno’s voice stirred her out of her numb staring, but before he could say anything else, she fell to her knees, her strength completely sapped from shock as well as exhaustion. Zeno pulled himself up, faster than should have been possible for how he looked, and hugged her. His arms were hard as a rock, and with how tight his grip was, it hurt. She didn’t react though.

“K-Kaya, you didn’t have to come, I’m sorry, there was some bandits and they attacked me and I had to keep them from getting too close to the house…I-I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have had to see-“

Kaya interrupted him by weakly lifting her head and kissing him. She wanted to cry, so much heartache and confusion built up inside of her, but making sure Zeno knew she didn’t fear or was repulsed by him was more important. He returned the kiss, small tears of his own streaming down his face. It was the first time she had ever seen him cry.

“…I’m just glad… y-you’re alright… let’s go home,” she finally said breathily, too physically and emotionally exhausted to say anything more. Saying that he was “alright” seemed to be the exact opposite of the truth, and he made a face at this. But she could still see that he _was_ , despite that the reason for that was oh-so-very… not alright.

Zeno carried her back without a word, and Kaya watched as his scales eventually faded away, him putting more effort into holding her as a result. He put her to bed, and the next day they continued on as if it had never happened.

She never stopped thinking about it though.

Zeno… where did that lizard-like appearance come from? It most likely was why he was able to heal himself of any wound, and although on the surface it _seemed_ helpful, it… wasn’t natural. Kaya wondered if it hurt, his skin morphing like that. She wondered just how severe of injuries he was able to overcome thanks to it, and she quickly kept herself from imagining too much else she be sicker than she already was. The whole thing was horrible, and the fact that Zeno could still shine so brightly despite the burden of what she could only imagine was some sort of curse inflicted on him only made her love and hurt for him more.

It was about three weeks later, when Kaya knew that she was on death’s door, that she acted.

After Zeno had gone to bed (since that was the only time he wouldn’t be watching her), she slowly lifted herself out of her own for the first time in days, her legs shaking with the tremendous effort. Wobbling, she willed herself to make her way to the door, which luckily did not make a sound when it was opened this time. Upon stepping outside, the winter chill went right through her, and she grit her teeth to try and bear it, coughing a little. Kaya looked up at the sky, where millions of brilliant stars were twinkling, and she began to talk, wondering if sickness induced delirium was making her do this.

“I… I-I don’t know if any god exists… but if you do, please watch over Zeno… I can’t do anything for him anymore. But I love him… I want him to be as happy as he can be after I’m gone.” She wrapped her arms around herself, tears forming in her eyes.

“He’s… I don’t know who he is, where he came from, or the extent of the burden he’s carrying… b-but I don’t want him to have to be alone again. I was just selfish… a-and kept him here for so long!”

Kaya held onto the doorframe to steady herself, hating how weak and frail her voice sounded. This was silly of her… but she wouldn’t be able to die peacefully unless she made some sort of attempt.

“Please… help him… let Zeno smile again, like he does when he’s around me.”

It was all she knew to say, and she could only pray that it was enough.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, Zeno was by her side as she drew her last breaths, smiling all the while so that that would be the last thing she saw.

“Zeno… Let’s meet again, above the skies, okay?”

_Until then, find a new family who will love you and bring you happiness._


End file.
